


Heat

by BastardSonOfDay (Diana_Raven)



Series: Bingo Prompts [2]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Backrubs, Fluff, Gen, Massages, i never write fluff but here is fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 15:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13033653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diana_Raven/pseuds/BastardSonOfDay
Summary: No romance despite title.Prompt: Backrubs/MassagesCassian's back hurts. And Lucien can warm his hands.





	Heat

Cassian’s back was hurting again. It was always around when it rained, but it had been raining a lot more than usual. Cassian hated the rain for multiple reasons. He hated how the drop in pressure made his old wounds ache. He hated how it limited his area to fly (it wasn’t just that it was hard to fly in the rain but the rain made everything colder which he hated). He hated being cooped up, at least Az and Rhys had other forms of leaving the house during rainy days. Sure, Cassian could walk but walking as for losers. And Nesta.

So all there was for Cassian to do was mope and whine about his lack of mobility and the ache in his back and wings.

Apparently Nesta didn’t like rainy days either because after only a fraction of Cassian’s usual botherings did she finally snap at him. They had been in the library. Lucien was showing Elain the section on Prythian vegetation and flora. He was in the middle of explaining to her how Winter grew enough food for their entire court to eat when it was always winter when Nesta growled, “For god’s sakes, Cassian. If your back hurts so much just ask Lucien for a backrub and leave me alone!”

Both Lucien and Cassian froze. “What did you just say?” Cassian asked.

“Just ask Lucien for a massage if it bothers you so much. I may hate him with everything in my soul but he gives a good hand massage.”

Cassian raised his eyebrows and Lucien turned a lovely red color. “Oh he does, does he?”

“He does!” Elain piped up, surprised Cassian. “He does this hand-heaty-thing and it feels great!”

Well…. Cassian’s back did hurt...

* * *

“No.” Lucien said for about the fifth time in an hour.

“Aw, c’mon… please…?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Cassian demanded. He had been following Lucien around the House of Wind. Currently Lucien was stalking down the hallway, towards his room, Cassian followed closely behind. Cassian winnowed in front of Lucien, making the male come to a halt. Cassian had miscalculated Lucien’s strides, they were only inches apart.

Lucien’s face was flushed from the effort it took to try and avoid Cassian. His breathing was heavy and his exhales fogged up the small amount of space between them, as if a fire burned within him causing a spike in his body temperature. Lucien frowned and crossed his arms, stubbornly. “Why should I?”

“Uh, because my back hurts and its a nice thing to do?”

Lucien narrowed his eyes. “Not that I’m not flattered Cassian, but I believe I heard your adoptive brothers mention something before about the sensuality attached to your wings. So, why yes?”

Cassian snapped his mouth shut, realizing that he would actually have to think about his answer.

Lucien raised an eyebrow. “Well…?” His metal eye whirred in his head, as if he was thinking very hard about something. This was one of those times that Cassian wished he too was a daemati.

“My wings are sensitive, not sexual organs. Illyrians guard their closely because of how sensitive and important, especially culturally, they are, not because they’re inherently sexual.”

Lucien’s face remained in that impassive frown, his eye continued to whirl, the stream stopped coloring his breath.

“Okay.” Lucien said.

“S-seriously?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, what do we need then?” Cassian asked.

“For Elain and Nesta the couch was fine, but because of your… girth, you’ll require something wider, like a bed.”

“Okay, we can use my room then, if you’d like.” Lucien nodded, and the two of them began to talk in the direction of Cassian’s room.

Suddenly Cassian stopped in his tracks and stared at Lucien, shocked.

“What?” Lucien asked.

“Did you just call me fat?” Cassian asked. “Not that there’s anything wrong with being fat, but I’m not.” He waved to his chest, “this is all muscle.”

Lucien rolled his eyes. “I didn’t call you fat, I called you wide. As in, you wouldn’t fit on the couch ‘cuz you’re too broad.”

“Oh. Good.” Cassian said, placated. They continued to talk to Cassian’s room.

Once inside, Lucien shut the door and told Cassian to lie face-down on the bed, shirtless. Cassian made an innuendo and Lucien added the rule that if he made another innuendo Lucien would leave the room and never give Cassian another massage, so Cassian zipped his lips.

Cassian lay on his bed while Lucien hunted for something in Cassian’s bathroom.

Finally Lucien exited the bathroom, a bottle of massage oil in his hand.

Cassian turned his head around at Lucien and raised his eyebrows but said nothing as Lucien oiled up his hands and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and when he exhaled steam poured from his nose and mouth. Lucien opened his eyes, his russet eye seemed to glow and shimmer, as if it was made of flames, his metal eye warmed like brass in summer.

“Okay. I’m going to touch your back now. Tell me where you feel specifically tense or the ache is worse.” Lucien said, his voice warm and soft.

Then Lucien touched Cassian’s shoulders. It felt amazing. Lucien’s hands weren’t large but the heat spread through Cassian’s back. It bloomed, his aching muscles soothed, as if they were immersed in hot water.

Cassian let out a moan as Lucien’s hands worked their ways down his back massaging out all of the knots. “I don’t say this often,” Cassian said, still in the amazed state of warmth in a cold and bitter day of pouring rain and a room temperature room that nevertheless made his blood feel like ice. “But Nesta was right.”

“You know,” Lucien said, “if you did sayit more often then you might actually get somewhere with her.”

“Says the man who’s mate would rather be with Az.” Cassian responded. “I-I didn’t mean that, Lucien. I’m sorry, I didn’t think.”

“Elain’s time is her own to spend with whomever she chooses.”

“I know that.”

The room fell silent. Lucien continued to work.

Lucien’s hands moved to the stump of Cassian’s wings and Cassian hissed.

“Can-can you lower the heat please?” Cassian asked hesitantly. Lucien took a deep breath and his hands began to lower in temperature.

“That’s, that’s good.” Cassian said. Lucien began moving his hands across Cassian’s wings and his breath hitched.

Lucien froze.

“It’s-it’s alright. Just sometimes it-I’m not used to people touching them.”

Lucien continued, his hands working slowly, gently, and diligently. Where he touched warmth and bloomed and Cassian closed his eyes, trying not to moan from how nice the sensation was, trying not to fall asleep, trying not to imagine how Lucien’s warm hands would feel elsewhere.

“I get that. Sometimes.” Lucien said softly, his voice breaking the sleepy silence.

Cassian rose to turn around to face Lucien but Lucien ordered him to stay put.

“You… get it?” Cassian asked.

“My back. From Tam-Tamlin.”

“What do you mean? ‘From Tamlin.’ Did he… did he hurt you? When you were back-”

“No.” Lucien growled. “I mean… not-Tamlin never hurt me of his own volition, or when...” His voice died off.

“Or when?”

“Or when I didn’t deserve it.”

“You _never_ deserved it.” Cassian growled. “Family doesn’t hit family. Period.”

Lucien said nothing.

Then, “so you and Azriel… that’s all just…?”

“Sparing is different. You weren’t sparing, were you?”

Lucien again said nothing. His hands began to roll over the joint of Cassian’s wing. Cassian let out a moan, “there.” He breathed, “there. That felt good.” Lucien kept his hands there, gently kneading Cassian’s joint.

“So… which one was this, of his own volition… or…?”

“You don’t-Oh. Right. Sometimes I forget that you weren’t Under the Mountain.”

Cassian said nothing for a while, before finally responding. “Sometimes I forget you were.”

“ _She_ made him lash me. It took a while to heal. I-I used to think I took _too_ long, but seeing how Feyre turned out I, um, I guess I was wrong.” Lucien took a laughing breath. “Anyway, sometimes… when people touching my back… they’re faded but sometimes it still… it still hurts.”

“What helped me through my recovery was the knowledge that Feyre was coming back and that she expected me to be ready to lead her legions.”

“She didn’t expect-”

“Practically, I know that. But… she did. As long as she needed me, in my head, I knew I had to recover. And eventually, she did need me. Both of you did. And I was there.”

Lucien didn’t respond, he only continued working.

“Where did you learn to do this?” Cassian asked. Lucien switched to the Illyrian’s other wing.

“Jes.” Lucien said. “She worked as a massage artist for the Court. When I showed her how I could heat my body… my hands… she was astounded. She begged me to teach her. But that wasn’t… that wasn’t how it worked. So, she taught me. It was… eye-opening. I’d never thought before that my fire could do anything but burn, much less heal tension in someone. But she showed me I was wrong.”

“She sounds like a wonderful woman.”

“She was.”

“… do you miss her?”

“More than you could ever know.”

“Even though you have Elain?”

“I don’t… have Elain. Elain, kind of… has me, I guess. But yes, because I am mated… sometimes I miss her even more. She… she taught me how to love and be loved and if your brother fails in that respect, or Elain chooses… someone else. I hope I can at least teach Elain what Jes taught me.”

“That’s very... wise.” Cassian said.

“Thanks.” Cassian was sure he heard a bite of sarcasm in that response. Good, all this touchy-feely stuff with Lucien (of all people!) was too weird. “I try.” Lucien added.

Atta Fox Boy.

Cassian almost didn’t notice how long passed in silence until Lucien suddenly removed his hot hands from Cassian’s back.

Cassian’s wings didn’t ache anymore for one, but also that spot in his lower back that had been bothering him was gone.

“You’re done.” Lucien said. He cooled his hands and Cassian sat up and stretched.

“Thank you. I feel amazing! Like I could fly to the Mortal Realms!”

“Don’t.” Lucien advised, dead-pan.

Casian rolled his eyes. “Thanks again, Fox Boy.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Nah.”

“Glad I could help out, Cassian.” Lucien stood and Cassian walked him out.

* * *

Lucien awoke to a knock on the door. Tiredly, Lucien rubbed his eyes and tied back his messy hair with a cord before sticking his head out of the room.

“What?” Lucien asked, his vision still blurry from sleep.

“Morning, Sleepy-head.” That voice… Lucien rubbed his eyes again and groaned as his vision became clear.

“Rhys. What’re you doing here?” Lucien asked. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorjam.

“Well,” Rhysand began, he held up a bottle of massage oil and watched Lucien’s eyes go wide and his face go red. “I’ve got this knot in my back and I was wondering if you were busy...”


End file.
